.
This gigantic bat
was captured on camera by
a man filming his camping trip.
He's been missing ever since.
Stories like these have been swirling
the internet for the past couple of years,
with people using pictures and videos
to supposedly prove that
human-sized bats exist.
Bats already creep a lot of people out,
so imagine how scared
people would be
if there were giant ones roaming around.
And keep in mind that bats
usually live together
in groups of 100 to several thousand.
So if you run into one of these giant beasts,
chances are that there'd be a whole
army of them nearby.
Would their natural ecosystems
be able to sustain these oversized bats?
To understand what a world with
giant bats would be like,
let's get to know our regular-sized bats first.
Because there are so many different
bat species,
today we're just going to focus on two,
the Flying Fox and the Vampire Bat.
Vampire bats
have a wingspan of 35-40 cm (1.1-1.3 ft),
they can run up to speeds of 1.2m/s (3.9 ft/s),
and they really like to drink blood.
They drink so much of it
that they can double their weight
in just one feeding.
So can you imagine how blood-thirsty
they would be if they were the size of humans?
Luckily for us,
bats don't get any bigger than
our next featured player,
the flying fox.
There are 60 flying fox species,
and the largest one
has a wingspan of 1.7 m (5.5 ft).
That might sound like it's
getting almost human-sized,
but the body is pretty small,
about 30 cm (11.8 in) in length.
They have a surprisingly big brain
for such a small body,
and they're said to be as intelligent as dogs.
So what would life be like
if there were millions of human-sized,
intelligent, blood-sucking bats roaming around?
Well, let's find out.
Flying fox bats would
need to be six times bigger
to become the size of a human.
Their new head to toe length
would be 170 cm (5.5 ft),
their new wingspan would be 10 m (32.8 ft),
and their new weight would be 216 kg (476 lb).
They would need to eat about
19 kg (41 lb) of fruit every day
just to sustain themselves.
With this new hunger,
they would easily wipe out farms and orchards,
and they'd disrupt the entire food chain.
And then, there's the vampire bat.
But don't worry, they won't add any more stress
to our fruit farms,
because they're only hungry for blood.
Oh, wait. That sounds even worse.
Human-sized vampire bats
would be about 170 cm (5.5 ft) long.
They'd have a wingspan of 6.8 m (22.3 ft),
and a mass of 295 kg (650 lb).
Because of their size,
they would be able to drink
34 liters (7.5 gallons) of blood per meal.
If we want to save our necks,
we might need to raise livestock
to offer up to the vampire bats.
We just wouldn't be able to use them
for food after,
because the vampire bats would probably
infect that livestock with rabies.
And we wouldn't only have to worry about
feeding these big beasts.
We'd also have to worry about
where they're going to live.
Usually, bats live in groups
of a few hundred to a few thousand in caves,
hollow trees, attics, and barns.
Clearly, human-sized bats wouldn't
all fit into the same amount of space anymore.
They might need to create smaller groups,
and take over buildings and parks.
Their sheer size,
food requirements,
and bodily functions
could damage their new homes.
But on the bright side,
their bodily functions could also make you rich.
Bat excrement, also known as guano,
is an effective fertilizer.
It has high amounts of nitrogen,
phosphate, and potassium.
And it can be very expensive.
Right now, an average bat only releases
about 2.5 g (0.09 oz) of guano each year.
But with these new, human-sized bats
eating upwards of 19 kg (41 lb) every day,
their guano production
will increase dramatically.
So if you're brave enough
to get near these beastly creatures
to collect their poop,
you could make a lot of money.
All you'd have to do next is
figure out how to spend it.
But that's a story for another WHAT IF.